Should I upgrade my week to RCI points?

Here’s a question I get quite frequently – it goes something like this:

We recently attended a presentation, where they told us we could upgrade/convert our week and get points, for $x,xxx. They said that weeks like ours aren’t very useful anymore, and if we want to get the good vacations, we’ll need to have points. Should we convert to points? Is this a good deal?

Here’s my take on it…

(Note: The same situation applies to people in different timeshare systems, too. This article is targeted to RCI points, but a lot of the concepts are the same for other systems, too.)

Is this upgrade a good idea?

The sales pitch

The details of these situations vary, but there are certain elements that stay the same:

Existing timeshare owners go to a presentation.

Salespeople try to sell them something that will cost thousands of dollars. In this case, that means converting to points.

On the negative side, the sales folks use scare tactics, telling owners the value or usability of what they currently own (i.e. a timeshare week), is or won’t be good anymore.

On the positive side, they tell owners how much better the new thing they’re selling (i.e. points) will be.

This is a general formula which has proven to work in many situations, and which you’re bound to run into as a timeshare owner. But should you buy what they’re selling?

Is converting to points a good idea?

The general answer is that this depends on how you use your timeshare. The biggest advantage that people cite about having points is that you have more flexibility when it comes to your vacations.

With RCI weeks, you need to vacation a full week at a time.

With RCI points, you can book shorter trips, using your points for 1 to 6 night stays, or longer.

How much is this flexibility worth to you? That all depends on your travel schedule. If you’re happy to vacation a week at a time, then this makes little difference. If week-long vacations don’t work well for you, this could be important.

How would your exchange power change with points?

Another reason sometimes cited to convert to points is that it will make it easier to get an exchange that you want. How true is that? Here’s how it works with RCI.

Weeks. With RCI weeks, you deposit your week and get a certain amount of trading power units (TPUs). You can then use these to trade for any other vacation worth that many TPUs or less.

Points. The system is actually very similar with points, except that the units are different. With points, you get a certain number of points to spend on a vacation, rather than TPUs.

Points vs. TPUs is not standardized. This is important to know if you’re thinking of upgrading to RCI points.

With the first resort, in Tahoe, your trading power is higher in TPUs. For instance, if you wanted to trade for the Grandview, you could do it with your week’s TPUs but you’re not even close in terms of the points.

With the second resort, in Vegas, your trading power is higher in points. You wouldn’t have enough TPUs to trade a week there for the Tahoe Beach & Ski Club, but with points, you’d be able to get more than 2 weeks at that resort.

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Checking your trading power in weeks and points

In your RCI weeks account, you can easily see how many TPUs you currently get for your week, and how many TPUs it costs to exchange for a vacation somewhere else.

What you want to find out is whether the number of points you’d get with this conversion would be better or worse for you in terms of exchange power.

Fortunately, you can use RCI’s online resort directory to get an idea about this. The resort directory identifies RCI points resorts, and then gives you a link so you can access their points charts.

An RCI Points resort in the RCI Resort Directory
The points grid for an RCI points resort

Just pick a few vacations you’d be interested in, and run through the scenario:

TPU cost. How many TPUs would it take to get this vacation?

TPUs you get. Does depositing your timeshare week give you this many TPUs?

Points cost. How many points would it take to get this vacation?

Points you would get. Would your newly converted timeshare give you this many points?

The winner? Which seems to be a better deal for you? The answer will vary by resort.

Is this offer a good deal?

Generally speaking, if you’re already happy with your timeshare, using it or exchanging it for week-long vacations, then it’s not going to be worth it for you to spend a bunch more money to convert it to points.

It is true that more of the industry is moving to points, but that doesn’t mean your week will be worthless anytime soon. Sometimes salespeople make claims like this to scare owners into converting to points, but your results tell the real story – are you able to get trades you want, or not?

If you’re happy with what you have, then stick with it.

If you do decide that you want points, then you need to look at the price to upgrade to points, and see if the benefits you gain will be worth that price.

Flexibility. If the flexibility of booking shorter vacations is important for you, how many of those do you think you’ll book? For instance, if the upgrade cost is $3,500, and you think you’ll own your timeshare for another 10 years, that’s $350/year. Are those shorter vacations worth that much to you?

Trading power. If your analysis showed that you could get better exchanges with points, then how much is that improved trading ability worth to you? Using the same example, would you get better trades worth an additional $350/year?

Only you can answer these questions. but doing this analysis will enable you to make an informed decision that you’ll feel comfortable and happy with.

Another option – Buy RCI points

If you know that you want RCI points, here’s another option that works for some people… Buy a resale RCI points timeshare.

You can simply go onto eBay or another online site that sells timeshares, and find a timeshare for sale that is already in RCI points.

Advantages:

No upgrade fees. A previous owner already paid that fee to convert their timeshare to points, so you don’t have to pay that.

Better cost per point. You can often buy a timeshare already in RCI points for less than the conversion cost, which makes it a more economical way to get those points.

Two timeshares. You still have your existing RCI week, to use as you wish. If you do a lot of timeshare travel, this can be a good thing.

Diversified portfolio. When you own multiple timeshares, you can think of it as a portfolio. Diversifying by having both weeks and points can be advantageous, since it gives you the benefits of both.

Disadvantages:

Two timeshares. You still have your existing RCI week, so you would now own two timeshares, and have to pay two sets of maintenance fees.

Lengthy buying period. Buying another timeshare can take months before the deal is finally closed.

Lengthy selling period. If you want to sell your current timeshare to replace it with the new one, that could take months, too.

Comments? Questions?

Do you have a timeshare that you’ve converted to points? One that you’re considering converting to points? Any tips or suggestions for other people in this situation? Please leave your comments in the Reply section below. Thanks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~No matter what you own, they’ll always want to sell you something else – that’s the way it works. Before making a decision on any deal, be sure to do your own research, make sure you understand it fully, and know the costs and benefits. You’ll find lots more tips in my Timeshare Owner’s Guide, the book that helps you get the most value and fun from your ownership.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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47 Comments

No. It is almost done automatically when you trade. RCI decides how much your week is worth and awards you points. I can get 3 trades on my Vistana. RCI timeshares also often charge extra for cleaning for points trades.

Hi Terry –
Thanks for your comment! That is a good point about the extra fees they sometimes tack on for points vacations. It sounds like you’ve got a system that works well for you, getting three trades out of your timeshare.
Thanks, and congratulations! – Deanna.

I have a lot of timeshares I bought cheap that are converted to RCI points. But I am having trouble finding exchanges at RCI for the times and places I want.
I would like to permanently return some of the units to weeks so I can bank them elsewhere as needed at exchange companies that have places I want.

Thanks for your comment! Contact your home resort(s) and let the know that you want to keep your week as a week so you can deposit it elsewhere. Usually you’ll need to let them know by a certain date, and then can keep them from automatically changing your week into RCI points. The rules do vary by resort, so speak with your resort directly.

My husband and I “upgraded” our Vacation Village at Parkway (Orlando) timeshare to points last year (while staying in a sister resort in Palm Beach Shores, FL). I was very skeptical at first, but have found there are more resorts in the RCI Points system than in the Weeks system. I can also get 3 trades. However, you need to know that you get what you “trade” for. In other words, if I took 2 trades only, I could get better weeks or a higher rated resort (Gold vs. Silver or non-rated). My 2 bedroom lock-off unit here are lifetime deeded, so expiration is not an issue. We also own 6 units in RCI Weeks in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. These will remain weeks…as we use all 6 units every year and they are not on a points system at all. We also own a 3 bedroom lock-off Westgate Lakes. In my opinion, Westgate is awful and so is Interval International. I’m ready to get out of it. They just keep sucking away at your checkbook and trading thru II is just miserable.

Hi Jersey Shore Girl –
Thanks for sharing your timeshare arrangement! It sounds like you’ve got your system set up and working quite well for you. It’s always nice to find timeshare owners who are winning the game. 🙂
Thanks again! – Deanna.

I have fixed weeks, float (prime time) weeks and RCI points. I have purchased where I want to be for my weeks so i don’t pay any trade fees. My points are very flexible and depending on how I use them I can get more than three weeks and long weekends for my 3 BR lock off. Check the resale market! It has worked well for me.

Hi M –
Thanks for your comments! Your plan of purchasing where you want to stay is a good one. As you point out, that saves on the cost of exchange fees. And then combining that with points for your exchanges, sounds like you have a winning system set up.
Thanks for sharing! – Deanna.

I enjoyed reading the different perceptions. As another thought, DAE (Dial An Exchange) is an alternative company that many time-share owners have come to appreciate. DAE has a different business model and work within RCI and II affiliated resorts on behalf of consumers. However, what many owners and members of DAE have come to realize, by purchasing into RCI points, they are giving up the freedom of choice to exchange with alternative companies. Over the years, there are more exchange companies/choices offering FREE memberships, lower exchange fees, and a more customized, less complicated system.

Hi Susan –
Thanks for your comment! That’s a good point about RCI points locking owners in. Many timeshare owners don’t realize all the other alternatives that are out there, so don’t understand what they could be missing with this.

Please help! My dad has had a week time share for over 20 years and has enjoyed using and exchanging it. However, we have now been contacted (and pressured & threatened) regarding exchanging his RCI week with Interval International points system – for $3,500 fee. Any advice as to what we should do would be appreciated. (He is 85 and does not have an email or computer, so I am trying to help him with this). Thanks!

Since your dad has used and enjoyed his timeshare week for 20 years, he obviously has something right now that’s working for him. He can just leave it like it is, and keep on doing what he’s been doing. They cannot force him to pay another $3500 to convert to points. Just ignore those sales calls. (I usually set my phone to show names for repeating caller #s something like “Timeshare sales”, “Vacation scam”, or “Political recording”. That way when they call again, I just don’t answer.)

In general, I really hate the business model of pressuring and threatening people to buy something. I believe timeshare owners should be able to make decisions in their own time, after doing their own research and gathering information. Don’t let them bully your dad into spending extra $ when he’s already happy with what he has.

I converted a Myrtle Beach week to points over 2 years ago – I’m still trying to find my first vacation. I’m sorry to offend anyone but I am convinced this is one of the biggest scams and rip-offs I’ve seen. And this article didn’t mention that if you use the so called “flexibility” it costs you a fee every time. And that virtually no place is available – and I have 104,000 points that are of no use bc there’s no place available. It’s a huge scam and it’s my fault for “buying” in to it

Hi Bob –
I’m so sorry to hear your story! You must be incredibly frustrated that you haven’t been able to find any vacation in the past 2 years, after paying a fee to “upgrade” to points. And you’re right — like pretty much everything else in the world of timeshares, there’s a fee when you want to do anything. They seem to nickel and dime you all the time, except that it’s $100 and $200 instead of pocket change!

Anyway, there should be some things available, but probably just not what you want. I’d suggest starting your searches quite far in advance, and making your selection criteria as wide as possible to increase your chances of finding a vacation that you’d enjoy.

Our resort is telling us we must choose either II or RCI. We currently are II . Are there advantages or disadvantages of one over the other. Our assigned week is in March. We have used their getaways but not very often. Would we get better choices with RCI, membership exchange exchange fees seem to be cheaper at RCI, I have weeks banked will they transfer. Thanks for any suggestions.

Hi Paul –
Thanks for your comment! Deciding whether RCI or II is better for you is not a simple answer — there are a number of factors that make a difference. Check out my free booklet on the topic for more details: RCI vs. Interval – Which is better?

As for the banked weeks, they will NOT transfer. You’ll have to use those before they expire, and before you terminate that II membership (if you decide to do that).
Good luck with it! – Deanna.

Hello – I already have a week at a timeshare on South Padre Isle, TX. I purchased a points timeshare several years ago (made the mistake of going to one of the presentations while I was there and got talked into purchasing points by sales people using many of the tactics mentioned above). The points I have do not add up to a week anywhere. I’m trying to determine the best way to use them – not at the home unit. In order to get an account with RCI (I didn’t understand what they do, since I’ve never used the points, so the account lapsed) I’d have to pay $300 JUST to reinstate my account PLUS the $124 fee for the current year.

That is $424 out of pocket just to be able to see if they can set up an exchange for me in the place I want for the time I want. I am unable to determine even how many points I currently have. I’ve contacted VRI, RCI and my home timeshare and can’t get any information. Obviously, I’m a beginner, but would like to (finally) take advantage of whatever it is I’ve been paying for each year.

Are the other exchange company options for those who do not have a ‘week’ in points?

Thanks for your article. Your blog is, so far, the most understandable to me. I don’t consider myself stupid, just have never done this before and not sure where to begin.

Hi Laura –
Thanks for your message! So you bought into an RCI points timeshare, and then let your RCI membership lapse, and now you’re wondering how you can get an exchange with the points you have? Here’s my take on it…

With RCI points, you own an underlying week at your resort, which is then allocated a certain number of RCI points every year. Honestly, I don’t know if your RCI points even exist anymore once you no longer have an RCI membership. It’s quite possible that they disappear unless there’s an account for them – that’s a situation I haven’t run into before. Another consideration is that even if they’re still there, they may have expired. Points are only good for so long, and depending on how long ago your membership lapsed, they could have passed that expiration date.

I agree with you that $424 just to get into the system to see what you can get seems pricy, especially since you’d still have to pay transaction fees on top of that to book anything.

Another option for you at this time is just to use your week as a week, and not deal with the points side of it at all, at least until you see how things work out for you with the week. You can either use your week at your home resort, or exchange it for a week somewhere else. If you want to avoid the RCI fee, you can look into exchanging through VRI (their own exchange company VRI*ety), or one of the small exchange companies like Dial an Exchange or Platinum Interchange. These companies all have lower fees than RCI, and it’s worth a try to see if you can get an exchange you want that way.

Can you offer any advice on how to improve reservation systems for timeshare resorts with all floating weeks? Our Tahoe timeshare has everyone call in up to one year in advance. Check ins are Fri, Sat, and Sun. So in order to get a July or August week we start calling every Fri, Sat, and Sun in July and August for the following year. We end up spending three hours each weekend for eight weeks trying to get through. It appears, the people that get thru have teams of 15 vs just one of us. My initial thought is whoever gets a July Aug week this year cannot get one for two more years, which will at least give those of us not having teams of 15 a better chance. My question is those of you experiences in this area what recommendations might you have?

Hi Lee –
That sounds really frustrating! One question for you — when does your high season run for floating weeks? Obviously July & August are what most people want. If high season is defined as just July & August, then it seems to me that there should be just enough weeks to go around. E.g. 50 units x 8 weeks = 400 high season weeks, and you should have 400 owners vying for those 400 weeks, so enough that everybody should get one.

Where I can see a problem coming in is if high season is defined as something like May through Sept. That means you’d have 5 months worth of owners, all trying to get those 2 months worth of vacations, which is always going to be a battle. Please let me know if I’m totally off track here. (-;

Anyway, if it’s an issue caused by season expansion, there’s nothing you can do about that part, since people already own what they own. Given that, you really need to start early, like the minute they open in the morning, in hopes of getting what you want, but it sounds like you do that already. And perhaps some of those owners have multiple units and rent them out, which would be where your “teams of 15” comes into play. If they get to book 15 weeks, and squeeze out individual owners, then that could be an issue too. Do you have any rules in place about booking multiple weeks at a time? Using some rotational system like you mention (e.g. you can only get a summer week every other year) is a possibility, but it implementing it may not be easy.

When there are really just more owners who want those weeks than there are weeks available, then you’ll always have a supply/demand/booking problems, but at least there are things that could save you some time. Like allowing e-mail requests, so that they just process every e-mail in the time-stamped order it was received and you don’t need to spend hours on the phone.

Hi, my name is Mike and I came across your website through Tom Tubbs of Island Consulting Real Estate.
I have bought and sold timeshares through his brokerage firm.
A few years ago I converted my fixed weeks to points with RCI. It was pricey and I had a tinge of buyers remorse, but as I started to use the points, the benefits started to appear. My weeks were valuable, 86,500 and 68,500 points each. I was able to get up to 6 weeks vacations, at nice resorts not Dumps, out of those 2 weeks. I was also able to book a 2 week vacation and get a car rental, the rental price was reduced by 2/3rds, valued more than the maintenance fees of the points.
My take on this is that if you want to go to the same Resort every year, keep your week. If you want to travel to different places, points work best.

Hi Mike –
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences and insights. It sounds like you’ve got a strategy that’s working really well for you. I’m always happy to hear from timeshare owners who have figured out how to really make their ownership work for them — that’s what it’s all about! (:
Happy travels, and thanks! – Deanna.

My wife & I are at Hilton Head Island on vacation staying at a time share resort. This morning we meet with a sales person for a sales “update” (of course). We are here on a RCI exchange using one of our weeks, we have not switched over to points so far. We own a Mayan Palace timeshare, home base is Rocky Pointe, Mexico, south of Phoenix.
The main purpose of the sales pitch is/was for us to trade our Mayan Palace timeshare for a Hilton Head property. The Hilton Head company is proposing to take our Mayan Palace property in exchange for a property in Hilton Head.
Here is my concern, supposedly the transaction will take 90 ~ 180 days to complete. The Mayan Palace property is supposed to be worth $27K and the Hilton Head property is supposed to be about the same amount. The Hilton Head company will put up $13.5 and they want me to put up $13.5 lump sum or bridge loan until the deal is finalized in 90 ~ 180 days. At this point I am supposed to get the $13.5 back less interest for the bridge loan.
One of the benefits to me is supposed to be much lower maintenance fees, $1000 versus about $330 per year. I would also receive 33,000 points in the RCI system per year if I did an exchange rather than use the home unit.
Have you heard of this kind of deal? Does it make any sense to you?

Hi Dennis –
Thanks for your comment! I think you’re right to be concerned about this deal. First of all, it’s very unusual for the sales team to say they’re borrowing thousands of $ from you, to be repaid later. My concern is that you may never see that money again. Also, usually they want you to pay a few thousand $ to switch into RCI points. Why would they give this to you for no cost, when normally they make money on the deal?
So, I may be wrong, but it sounds pretty fishy to me. If you’re thinking of proceeding, I’d try to have a lawyer review the contract docs first, and make sure it’s binding that they would give you that $13.5K back. I’d be surprised if they let you do that.
Good luck with it! – Deanna.

I have week # 22 at Virginia Beach Oceanaire Resort. They recently was bought out by Diamond International Resorts we met up with the sale people on Memorial Day which suppose to be no more than a 55 min. change of owner update , but lasted about 3 hour, they wanted me pay $12K to up grade to the points system after we turn it down multiple times they send us to an exit manager who then tried to sell a trial period for 18 mons for 3k so we turn her down also. We got back to the room to read about the points system and came to find out that we would have to purchase more points to get our fixed week 22 than was offer, and the maintenance fee would be $400 more per year. ??? Could this be DIR wanting the deeded week back to cover the over population of the points system, and points owners not being able to get a reservation when they want it? Because when all the deeded weeks are off the table I am sure every timeshare owner will have to buy more points to get the reservation they want because you won’t have a deeded week. More points more money, higher maintenance fee.

Thanks for your comment! Personally, if I were you, I wouldn’t pay $12K or anything to “upgrade” to Diamond Points. As you mentioned, you’d be paying more in MF, and not get enough points to cover the week you already own. That sounds like a lose-lose! And you’ll also discover when you want to sell that those points are not easy to get rid of.

I don’t know anything about over population of the points system, but converting weeks owners to points is obviously more profitable for DRI.

ALOHA, MY NAME IS TRISHA.
RECENTLY WHILE MY HUSBAND AND I WERE VACTIONING IN LAS VEGAS, WE WERE SUCKERED INTO A PRESENTATION IN WHICH WE HAD PURCHASED A MEMBERSHIP THROUGH TLC RESORTS. MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES RCI POINTS, AND SO CALLED FREE WEEKS TO USE FOR VACATIONS. IM VERY CONFUSED AS TO HOW THIS PROGRAM REALLY WORKS, AND HOW I CAN GET ONTO A WEBSITE WHICH GIVES ME INFORMATION ON WHAT WE ACTUALLY PURCHASED, AND HOW TO USE IT. PLEASE HELP

Hi Trisha –
I’m sorry to hear you got the hard sell treatment, and bought something that wasn’t really explained well. I’ve never used TLC Resorts, but it’s a vacation club where you own points, which also give you access to book RCI points vacations. The company website has logins where presumably you can book your vacations.
Here’s the website: http://www.tlcresorts.com/

Their site says “TLC specializes in top-notch customer care.” If there’s any truth to their claims at all, you should be able to contact somebody at the e-mail or phone # listed on the website, and get all the answers you need from them.
Hope you what you need! – Deanna.

Hi there. Very good website and glad I found it. Thank you. My wife and I are currently on vacay using our timeshare. We had a presentation this morn w free breakfast and a gift card. All nice I suppose. We were pressured to excange our RCI Weeks to RCI’s Points system. After sticking to our guns and saying “no” to $17,000, then $14,00, then a $8,000 offer. They sent us to the “closer” and he said he could do it for $4,000 plus an extra 40,000 points but offer ends tomorrow. Wife and I have been devating. We don’t really have the extra money(just bought a new home, car, 2 yr old, etc…). But it does sound like it is more advantageous to exchange. Our trade would give us 86,500 points plus the 40,000. We can use the extra points for car rental, flights. Plus we have been owners for 5 yrs and not a lot of “nice” choices in our opinions. Have been a little disappointed to be honest. Will exchanging give is more “nicer” options to travel to? Also I was thinking of trying to get him down to $3,000 or $3,500 when I talk to him. Does this sound like a good idea to you? Oh we would also “upgrade” from Mizner in Fort Lauderdale to Orlando. Thoughts? Thanks!

The way they keep knocking the price down and down gives you an idea how ridiculous the original asking price is, doesn’t it? (-;

Anyway, my advice would be that if you don’t really have the extra money, then don’t do it. There is no guarantee that you’ll be able to find nicer options than you currently do, and is this really worth the extra $3-4K?

One thing is for sure — they will offer you other options for “upgrades” in the future. At that point, your financial situation may be different. For now, with the new house, car, and 2-year old, this probably is not the best time to pay more for your timeshare.

Hi there,
I have been searching for an answer to a timeshare question, but haven’t been able to find it. I am hoping maybe you can give some advice, or point me in the right direction. My husband and I converted our week into points several years ago through Diamond Resorts. We do not hold a lot of points (9,000), but in the Diamond system, we have been told that to have the “Silver” level (which gets you more priority for booking-along with more options), that you need to own 15,000 points. Our “3 year” trial period fo the silver level is ending soon. We are thinking about adding these points, however, it is pricey through the presentations that we have been to. My question is this, if we purchase these points through a timeshare resale (another party who does not want their timeshare anymore), will my timeshare company (Diamond) apply these to my current 9,000 points so that I have a total of 15,000 points now? I am sure there are some transfer fees involved, but it would seem that it would serve both us the buyer, and the seller (who wants out) the purpose-as we would take over the maintance fees. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi Deb –
Before you buy any more Diamond points, either direct from Diamond or resale, you should be aware that Diamond has some very serious restrictions on the use of resale points. Basically, you’re not able to use them outside the home collection, and they’ve also locked down the ability to exchange them via Interval. This makes Diamond resale points basically worthless, compared with other timeshares where you can travel all over the world.

Hi! At a Wyndham property in Myrtle Beach and sat through high pressure pitch to “register” a couple of our Timeshare weeks with Club Wyndham. Spiel is that with 500k Wyndham Club points, we can pay maintenance fees on our RCI affiliated properties and still have lots of points available to travel to lots of fab places. Also, if I just want to use my fixed weeks in my home resort, I can. They claim Club Wyndham has no annual fees, no exchange fees, etc. just upfront money and you’re good to go. Sounds too good to be true…do you know anything of the newer Club Wyndham?

Whenever you’re getting a high pressure sales pitch, be very careful. If the deal was really as good as they say, then they wouldn’t need the high pressure tactics to make the sale. You can already use your fixed weeks at your home resort if you want, and you can already travel to lots of places by exchanging them. Believe me, if there wasn’t a significant profit for them in doing this, they wouldn’t be pushing the deal.

I have a vacation club for 20 years? Is it profitable to change from a timeshare and go into a vacation club?? Maintenance keeps going up very year. I belong to RCI and now it seems I have trouble getting the exchange I want. Have had trouble getting Hawaii for months. Have been looking for months and all I get is”nothing available” why is that? I cannot access Hawaii on the RCI website for 2018. So to plan ahead is impossible. Is RCI intentionally blocking access to the Islands for 2018 or is there another reason?? Also, have timeshare with Sheraton Vistana and the only thing I can do with that is convert to hotel points which are of no value to me. They do not have a vacation club per say. After 20 years the industry has changed and not for the benefit of timeshare owners. Selling is useless due to the high maintenance which keep going up year after year. I am 86 years old and am. Any suggestions?? . Aura Primera

Hi Aura –
As a 20-year owner, I’m assuming you’re in RCI weeks, right? I think I’ve always seen at least something available for Hawaii when I search, though it may not be a wide selection. Perhaps try broadening your search to include a wider date range, or more locations in Hawaii? Also, you can make sure that you’re checking to see everything available, not just those that match your deposit. That will show you whether there are items out there available, but you just don’t have enough trading power to get them.

I would not suggest changing to a vacation club as a way to be “profitable”. An alternative would be to try selling one of your timeshares to start with. Try contacting a reputable broker like Island Timeshares at http://www.islandtimeshare.com/ They can advise you on the prospects of selling your timeshares.

Thank you for this posting! I am so glad I found it as quick as I did.
We received a call from a high pressure sales person about converting our timeshare from Interval International to RCI points. My husband deferred it to me because I’m the one that handles TS matters. He asked the salesman to email me and he did. I replied via email with several questions. Instead of being straightforward and just answering my questions via email he called us back and started with the hard used car salesman’s tactics. I had to ask four times before he gave me the straight answer that converting to RCI cost $3,488! Somewhere in the midst of all of my asking and his used car sales jibberish he actually had the nerve to say to me…”this isn’t confrontational.” Seriously! After I heard that ridiculous price I said I was absolutely not interested! My biggest regret abnout the timeshare experience is not buying somewhere I’d want to return to year after year i.e. a beach somewhere. Had I done that I’d have little to no use for Interval or RCI. Alas, this is how we learn.
I plan to read more of your TS blog to learn.
Thank you,

Hi Donna –
Bravo for you, That’s great that you stuck to your guns, and were *finally* able to get a straight answer out of the guy! I’d say you did really well. 😊👍
And thanks for the good words, too, – Deanna

I have a Vacation Village timeshare. Approached by RCI to convert to points. No mention in the paperwork of the relationship with Vacation Vil. RCI using THE SHORES as a closing company and the Kimberling Inn Vacation Club TRUST, because you no longer have weeks, just points in this trust. But since no longer a deed, nothing to pass to beneficiaries but they can keep and use the points or just walk away if original owner passes away. Have to pay extra for conversion to points but, again, nothing in the paperwork that Vacation Vill ownership is dissolved. The other choice was to pay $5000+ to get out of ownership altogether. Where can I call to clarify all this, or can you? I have 6 days to get out of this contract.

Hi Kathleen –
First of all, rescind your contract while you still can! Don’t wait for more clarifications, just do it before it’s too late.

I think one of the worst things about the timeshare industry is that they purposely try to confuse the buyers. I don’t think you should enter into a major purchase like this unless you fully understand it, and they really make that. dry difficult.

In your case, it sounds like they gave you the false sense that you could either spend $$$ on the conversion or spend even more $$$ to get out of your timeshare altogether. That’s a false choice. You also have the option to just keep what you have. You have a deeded week and a contract – they can’t just take that away. And you can also sell your own timeshare, rather than paying them $5K (!) to take it off your hands.

I was recently offered the opportunity (their words) to upgrade my timeshare to points. My unit is a gold week at Spinnaker in Shipyard Plantation in Hilton Head Island. The cost would be $3000 and I turned it down immediately. I want to sell this unit since the annual maintenance is $1100.

Here is my question: Is there a market for these type units, the sell pitch was that if I upgraded they could sell the unit for much more.

Secondly even If I did not upgrade to points when the unit is sold I am automatically upgraded at the 3000 cost. I have reviewed my contract and there is no stipulation that they can do this. Have you heard of this.

Your blog does not have dates, so I don’t know if you are still answering questions, but here goes. I own a week in Florida, since 1977. I recently attended a presentation where they convinced me of the value of points. Vacation Village also had other sweeteners, such as a free week each year, and an account where “money” gets deposited for future use. Ie, money that you spend via RCI for RCI fees, travel arrangements etc. I assume that “money account” has some value for reducing vacation costs in the future. But in order to get all this, I had to buy a week at Grand View (Vegas, where the presentation was). $10,000 for 1BR every other year, 49k points. I declined so I could check resales, and I now find a deeded 1BR week annual 65k points for $400. Quite a difference. I assume those other benefits (free week etc) apply only to developer sales and not resales. But the number of points for such a small price sounds enticing. Yes, I understand closing costs and other fees for RCI etc, but should be under $1000 total. After reading some of your posts here, I think it makes sense to keep my existing week rather than convert to points. Any caveats about purchasing this Grand View week/points for $400?

I have been a timeshare owner since 2000. In 2015 we upgraded from Interval International week based to RCI points because we also got a sales pitch about better exchange options and lower maintenance fees. And that held true. We paid an additional 8,000.00 dollars for this. Initially we paid 13,900 for our week in St. Maarteen. Now our home resort, Fisherman’s Cove is no longer participating in the RCI program. Of course licensed broker steps in from The MVP service and TOWB to offer several option but there will be a transfer cost in the amount of 899.00 plus to transfer to another resort with RCI points. I am so done with all these fees and run a around. I just want out of this all together. I can no longer pays out all these fees. Any suggestions